Destination Fall

Here in Southern Arizona, we are a little short on fall color. We can go up Mt. Lemmon and see fall colors, but down here in the valley, we just don't get much. On the upside to that, there is almost always something blooming here, so we get flowers all year long.

DH and I were pretty done in from all the activities we've had around here, so we planned a four day-three night getaway to Flagstaff, Arizona.

Flagstaff has mostly pines, and some of the Aspens were already bare, but we did find some color.

We found some reds here and there, but no oranges. I grew up in New England which has amazing fall color, and the trees here just can't compete, but it was still pretty, especially with snow capped mountains in the mix.

Arizona has some things that New England doesn't, like volcanoes. Can you see the crater where the top of the mountain blew off at some point? Most people don't think of Arizona as a volcano area, but we actually have a bunch, not all of which are extinct, but just dormant.

We stopped at this little chapel, and there is a bunch of graffiti inside, but surprisingly, it is all respectful. Notes to God, memorials of loved ones passed on, praise and thanks, but nothing negative. It was a sweet, peaceful spot. The back wall is all windows facing the forest.

One of the things we did on our trip was hit a bunch of thrift stores and antique stores. I didn't buy anything at the antique stores, but I had a shopping spree at the thrift stores. All tolled, I spent just under $100. For some, a $100 shopping spree is nothing, for others, out of their range. Let's go over what I got for the $100, and you tell me how I did.

I found a Levi's denim jacket, that looked like it had been worn no more than twice, not even the inside labels had any wear at all. Those go for at least $70, and this one works for DD#3, which is who I bought it for. I also bought her a long skirt worth about $50, so right there, in value, I'm over my $100 spent. 

I bought the twins 11 items of clothing, including a couple jackets. I also found a Spiderman hooded towel for them.

I bought myself a blouse and skirt.

I bought four 100% cotton sheets to use as quilt backings.  I also found some fabric scraps, some fat quarters, and six 1+ yard pieces of fabric.

I also bought 46 men's shirts, one pair of pajama pants, and a dress, all 100% cotton, that I plan on using for quilting.

I found a couple quilting books, and...

a buttonholer that will work with my Rocketeer!

So, how is that for under $100? I'm pretty happy with it, and DH didn't complain once. He knows how much I love to quilt, and knows I try hard to keep my costs down, even though quilting isn't an inexpensive hobby. We found a couple vintage machines, a couple of which DH wanted to buy for me, but I passed. At this point, I have a wishlist of machines, and if it's not on the list, I'm not really tempted. Even if it's on the list, I'm pretty frugal most of the time, and I don't want to spend too much on them. We saw vintage machines everywhere from $10 to WAY overpriced, mislabeled as rare, machines for over $300. Any $10 machine is tempting in a way, just to rescue it and save it from a landfill, but I refrained, even on those. I can't bring them all home, even the $10 ones.

The weather here at home changed while we were gone, so I FINALLY got to shut off the air conditioner! I'm not fond of summer at any time, but really, high 80's at the end of October seem a little much. I'm so glad it's finally cooled down, just in time for November.